WHO The Canton Symphony Orchestra with pianist Andre Watts.WHEN 8 p.m. Saturday.WHERE Umstattd Performing Arts Hall, McKinlcy High School.TICKETS $25 to $45, at www.cantonsymphony.org and 330-452-2094.NOTE M.J. Albacete, executive director of the Cantron Museum of Art, will lead a pre-concert discussion at 7 p.m. that is free to ticket holders.

Pianist Andre Wattts brought the house down with a dramatic and masterful performance of Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No. 2 at Umstattd Hall last January.

That heady night was the first installment of Watts' three-year residency with the Canton Symphony Orchestra, which resumes with a concert at 8 p.m. Saturday.

As part of a program spotlighting American composers, Watts will perform Edward MacDowell's Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor. The pianist talked about the concert via telephone last week.

Q. What can you tell me about the MacDowell concerto?

A. "MacDowell was an American but of course it's not really Americana. It's basically German romanticism. It's a very beautiful piece. It's melodic of that era and, being MacDowell, a virtuoso piece for the pianist with lots of interplay with the orchestra. I've played it a fair amount, when I can. It's difficult to persuade people to program MacDowell."

Q. You and Gerhardt Zimmermann (Canton Symphony music director) are longtime friends and collaborators. What can you tell me about working together?

A. "It's a very rather special circumstance when you have the opportunity to work with someone who is a friend who you'd admire and respect even if he were not a friend. That's not always the case! Gerhardt is rather extraordinary. Over his time in Canton, the orchestra has had a lot of changeovers but it's always been playing of such a high level. That's not hyperbolic at all for me to say. That's one of the concerts of the season that I look forward to the most."

In 2015, Watts will do a series of four concerts with the Canton Symphony, two in March and two in April, during which he will perform all five Beethoven piano concertos, culminating the final night with Beethoven's Choral Symphony.